He was in­vited to Buckingham Palace to ac­cept the hon­our from The Prince of Wales, hav­ing been named in the Queen’s New Year Hon­ours List.

The QPM is awarded to po­lice of­fi­cers in the United King­dom and Com­mon­wealth of Na­tions for dis­tin­guished ser­vice or gal­lantry.

Mr Byrne, who has over­seen the Cheshire force be­come one of the best in the coun­try, ranked out­stand­ing by po­lice watch­dog Her Majesty’s In­spec­torate of Con­stab­u­lary, said: “This was a fan­tas­tic day with my fam­ily, and hum­bling to re­ceive.

“It was a chance to re­flect on a long ca­reer in policing and the many thou­sands of col­leagues that have sup­ported me through­out my ca­reer and helped make this spe­cial recog­ni­tion pos­si­ble.

“I am very proud to lead an in­no­va­tive and pro­gres­sive force like Cheshire Con­stab­u­lary.”

Mr Byrne joined the force in 2014 and is also the Na­tional Po­lice Chief’s Coun­cil lead in the area.